When time not matter
by Lysistrate
Summary: They said human love was fickle, but some love never dies for it is stronger than time and loss itself. It can only change, turn into love of a different kind, but no matter what, it will be as strong as ever.


"Mommy, mommy, look!" The young girl of three years ran on short legs towards her mother, holding something firmly in her outstretched hand. The toddler's skin had a very light complexion, long coal black hair was flowing behind her in the wind and she had uncommonly deep brown eyes. Behind her ran her older brother of seven, his skin slightly darker, but otherwise sharing the colours of his sister.

The two young children sprinted the last distance up towards the small wooden house which was built close to the sea and the young girl ran straight into the arms of their mother who was waiting for them at the porch with a huge warm smile as she picked her daughter up and twirled her around a little.

The young man watching this exchange from the forest felt a huge pang in his chest as his insides were breaking and he could not help to feel a string of hate towards the small child which were so like her mother, except for her hair and her more coloured skin.

"What is it you have found darling?"

"It's a stone mommy, look how pretty it is!" Her daughter showed her mother the stone with a proud look upon her face. The stone was indeed beautiful, perfectly round with no hard edges and completely white.

"It is very pretty Sarah, you should show it to your dad when he gets home." The mother said as she put her daughter down on the porch and the girl nodded happily before running into the house. Smiling, the mother turned her attentions to her son. "Did you find something down by the beach as well Jon?"

"Nahh, Sarah and Eliza were playing with the rocks, I was playing soccer with Jimmy, Tim and Laurel instead."

"And what about Peter?" His mother said raising her eyebrow as she got that look which told her son she was about to scold him about something.

"Peter was keeping score." Jon muttered as he avoided looking into his mother's eyes, eyes which were exact replicas of his own and his sisters.

"Jon, I have told you time and time again, Peter has every right to play alongside the rest of you."

"But he does not run as fast as we do!"

"That is because he is two years younger than you Jonathan, now I will not argue with you anymore on this matter. I want all of you to be friends." When she saw her son turn away, she gave a small sigh as she sat down her knees, coming to the same level as her son.

"Jonathan we are a small tribe but we have survived longer many others because of the bonds we have always made between everyone who belongs to this tribe. Peter is the son of one of your father's best friends, he is younger than you now but in a few years that will no longer matter. But you will never be able to be a close friend to him if you shut him out now and there might come a time when you two will need to relay on each other more than you think of now. Do you understand me?"

"Yes mommy." Jon had gotten a shameful expression on his face which eased when he was embraced by his mother and it turned into a laugh as she tickled him in the sides as he wriggled free.

"Mom I am too old to be tickled." He said as he rolled his eyes just as his sister ran out on the porch once more.

"Mommy could we be allowed to run over to grandpa Billy for a moment?" Bella smiled a little at the huge smile and glittering eyes she saw as she looked at her daughter.

"Yes you can, I will call your dad and tell him to pick you up after work."

"Thank you mommy!" And with those words her youngest had already flown of the porch running towards the house of Billy Black, her brother hot in her heels as he screamed back to his mother that he would look after his sister. Bella felt a huge warmth spread in her heart and in her chest as she picked up her phone from her pocket.

Jacob picked up after only one ring.

"Hi beautiful." His warm voice filled her with even more warmth and she felt the common tingle in her stomach as she smiled, even after all these years Jacob was still her sun and the only one who could truly make her feel fully alive.

"Hi Jake, I just called to see if you could pick up Jon and Sarah on your way home? They wanted to visit Billy and I couldn't say no."

"Of course Bella, dad is always thrilled to have them over, to be honest I think he would have been happy if they visited every day."

"That's because those two whirlwinds do not visit him every day." Bella smiled warmly as she heard Jake laugh on the other end.

"That's probably truer than he would ever admit, but I need to go Bells, I will make sure we're all home till dinner."

"You better be. I love you Jake."

"I love you too Bells, more than anything." And with those words Bella heard the common click before she laid the phone next to her on the small table as she sat down in one of the chairs she and Jake had placed on the porch as she looked out over the sea.

After Sarah had been born, she and Jake had decided it was time to move from the small apartment they had rented and move to a place of their own. Of course Jacob had wanted to stay in the reservation and Bella had not wanted to move either, her whole family were living here and she loved them all dearly and she could not think of leaving them.

But Bella and Jake had not been able to find a house they liked and in the end Jake had talked with the rest of the pack and together they all had helped to build their now permanent home.

Since the day their house had been finished, Bella had loved it. It was not overly large, but it was cozy and warm in its simplicity which fitted both her and Jacob perfectly. Also the peaceful environment by the ocean with the surrounding forest had been, and still was, the perfect place to rise their family.

With a sigh Bella closed her eyes, the sun was gracing the world with its presence and she could almost feel how her body craved all the rays of sun it could be graced with.

Suddenly however, Bella noted that the world around her had gone unusually quiet, there were no birds singing and no squirrels bickering and just the distant sound from the ocean was heard. Then she felt a strange tug in her heart, almost as if a long gone memory was waking.

Feeling uncomfortable Bella opened her eyes and sat up, but as she did she blinked once more as her brain tried to comprehend what her eyes were seeing.

Just a small distance from the porch stood the one person she never would have believed she would see again. He looked exactly the same as he had done when he left of those years ago, but still there was something different. In his golden eyes there was a haunted look and intense pain, it was the same look Bella still sometimes could see in her own.

"You are not allowed to be here Edward, the treaty does not allow you to cross the border." Hearing her voice talking to him and to hear her voice say his name made his inside ache a little less, the harshness of her words hurting him like fiery blades.

Still all Edward could do was stare at the creature in front of him, his beautiful Bella. When he last had spoken to her, she had been afraid of aging, afraid of getting older, but time had been very kind to her and if anything, it had only made her even more beautiful.

Her hair was now longer, reaching down to her lower back and a few wrinkles had started to appear by her eyes. Her body had also received a more curvy form, she was now truly a woman, not just a teenager about to reach womanhood. Otherwise she looked the same, her deep piercing brown eyes even more captivating, wise and strong than they had been the last time he had seen her.

"Bella…." He said taking a step towards her, felling his heart fall as she took a step back, a look of pain in her eyes.

"It's been 15 years Edward." The hollow tone in her voice made him cringe within. Carefully he took another step forward and this time she stayed in place.

"I know." When he reached her Edward lifted his hand a little to caress her cheek as he had done so many times before, but seeing the look Bella gave him he felt his hand drop.

"You are not allowed to be here Edward."

"I know the treaty…."

"I am not talking about the treaty!" Bella bit back at him a fire ablaze in her eyes which he had never seen before, a fire of anger. "You cannot simply waltz back into my life after 15 years and believe everything will be alright again, you left me!"

"Bella…."

"I waited for you Edward! I was a shell after you left, I was more dead than alive for more than a year! Charlie even wanted to send me away since he was so worried about me! I had to patch myself together after you left, all the millions of broken pieces which were my heart so I could find some joy in my life again and when I finally have, you have the balls to just waltz back into my life!"

"Bella…"

"I want you to leave Edward! Now!" And with those words Bella sprung into the house, slamming the door behind her. For a second all he could do was stand on the porch staring at the now closed door. To be honest he had not known what to expect when he saw Bella again, he had always wanted her to move on but somehow he had imagined her to still be the eighteen year old he had left all those years ago.

But Bella was no longer eighteen, she was a grown woman with two children, the strength she had always possessed had simply grown and she had become more confident, she now also dared to show her strength.

Just as he was about to turn, feeling completely empty inside, he heard a sound from inside the house which forced him to ignore Bella's words and rush into the house, finding her on the couch on the living room. The small house was simple and so much like Bella that Edward felt himself being pierced by the pain of knowing _they _could have had this.

But his focus was on the angel sitting on the couch crying, carefully Edward sat down beside her and hesitantly he placed an arm around her, expecting her to turn away and scream at him again, instead she leaned into him as he wrapped both of his arms around her, holding her close to him.

Holding her warm body against his Edward felt as if he was alive once more, how had he ever been able to give this up? How could he ever had turned away from his love when she completed him so, when she made him feel more human than he had ever done in his entire existence?

How could he have turned from the only woman he had ever and ever would love?

After some time Bella stopped crying but made no move to move out of his embrace, instead she closed her eyes and allowed herself to be soaked up in the moment for a little while more.

"I am so sorry that I left you Bella, had we been able go back I would have never left you." Edward said placing a small kiss on the top of her head, which caused her to draw back and give him a small nod, not saying anything, just looking at him with her dark brown eyes which could pierce through him like he was made of nothing.

"You have been unhappy." She finally stated.

"I have deserved to be and I deserve to be so for all eternity." At this Bella gave him a sad smile and placed her hand on his cheek, looking into his golden eyes and as they stared at each other Edward felt his insides go cold once more.

For even if Bella was looking at him with endless love, it was not the same adoration as it had been 15 years ago, it was not fully a gaze a lover gave another lover, it was more as the way a mother looks at her son, the gaze Esme always gave him, and he could feel that the hand on his cheek was more one of comfort than that of a lover as well.

"No one deserves unhappiness Edward."

"I do, I left you and I made us both unhappy, I…"

"Edward, no one deserves to be unhappy, and leaving me to protect me, I do not think that is enough for eternal damnation." As he looked into her eyes, there was such warmth, love and comfort that Edward felt something inside of him heal a little, he could not tell her that she was wrong.

Looking around the small living room he saw the pictures of Bella and her family.

"Are you happy Bella?" Bella looked over at a picture where she and a dark skinned man was sitting by a campfire looking at each other with smiles of pure love, Bella holding a tiny baby in her arms and her son sitting in the man's lap, sleeping.

"I am."

"What happened after we left Bella?" Bella sighed as she stared out towards the porch, a dark shadow having fallen over her face.

"I was so lost Edward, I truly was only a shell. Then I started to hang out with Jacob…" When she said the name her face lit up with a warm smile and Edward already knew he was the man in the pictures. "Jacob he… he never tried to push me and he simply knew me. I stared to feel more alive when I was around him and suddenly life was moving forward again.

After two years Jake told me that he loved me, I told him then I was not ready, that there was a possibility that I never would be able to..., but he waited for me and then one day it was as if all my walls just fell down." From her eyes there were pure love shining.

"Jake has never pushed me Edward, he is so gentle and kind. He puts trust in me and he never hides anything from me and he has made me very, very happy. I love him." Finally she looked him straight in the eyes. "But I have never stopped loving you Edward and Jake knows this, my love for you have simply changed."

"I love you too Bella, still after all this time." Bella took Edward's cold hand in her own.

"I know and had you come ten years ago I would have left with you Edward, but I belong here now, I have my family, I love my children and I love my husband, I have grown a part of him just as Jake had become a part of me."

As Edward looked down at her he could see the truth in her eyes and somehow this made the ache in him a little less hurting, his Bella was happy, she was loved and she was safe, it was all he had asked for when he left and all he had wanted for her.

"Then I will be happy knowing you are happy my love."

"Thank you. But Edward I can only be happy if I know you can find some happiness as well."

"I think I will be able to do that now love." Edward was surprised by his own words and the truth he could feel in them, before he had not believed he could have been happy without his angel, but somehow the knowledge of her happiness now made his pain bearable, it was still there, but now he could ease it with his knowledge of her happiness.

For a few hours he stayed and they spoke of so many different things. He loved to learn that his Bella had become a kindergarten teacher and was glad to hear that Charlie had found a new partner in Sue Clearwater. Hearing of how Victoria had returned made him nearly going into a riot but Bella's warm touch calmed him down, while Bella was happy to hear about what the rest of the Cullen's were now doing. She was glad to know they had been able to stay together even after they had choosen to leave Forks.

As the sun started to descended, they once more stood on the porch, Edward knowing that he needed to leave but at the same time reluctant to do so.

"Promise me you will send all of your family my love Edward."

"They are still your family Bells." At this he was earned with a warm smile.

"If I want to see you again, am I then allowed to come back?" Edward asked suddenly feeling nervous, wondering if Bella still wanted him in her life, for he still wanted her, even if he could just get a small piece of her.

Tears welled in Bella's eyes as she threw her arms around him, her body now so different, but still the same.

"Of course, you can always return here Edward, our door will always be open." At hearing her say_ "our"_ he felt the pain once more but managed to press it down. "Just don't wait 15 years the next time." She added with sparckling eyes.

Chuckling he pushed a small lock of her hair behind her ear as he looked down at her.

"I promise my love." And with those words he was once again gone, but this time, Bella could feel there was no pain in her heart. No pieces that shattered, there was only warmth from his promise.

Then she heard the car which parked at the back of the house and soon her two lovely children, which she loved more than life itself, were running up the porch, both giving her huge hugs before running into the house.

Then she saw Jake coming towards her and she felt how her face turned into the huge warm smile she always got when she saw him and she felt her insides tingle at the huge smile she got in return as he wrapped his strong arms around her and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips.

"You smell horrible Bells." Jake gave her a pointed look as she laughed, drawing him closer to her.

"I wondered when you would notice."

"Everything alright with you?" The concern in his eyes was mixed with the warmth and love that was her Jacob. There was no jealously, no hate and no suspicion in his eyes and Bella felt her heart swell so much that she thought it would burst, knowing he trusted her so.

What had she done to deserve this man?

"Everything is perfect. He may return, just so you know." At this Jake just nodded before giving her another kiss, this time one full of promise for what to come closer to the night, which left her breathless and full of longing, before he walked into the house as well.

Standing on the porch a moment longer, Bella knew she would always sometimes wonder how her existence with Edward would have been, but her years with Jacob had taught her not to live in the past. Still she knew, and Jake knew, there would always be part of her that was broken, a part of her that would always hurt when _he _was not there. Over the years it had grown smaller and smaller, but it would never go away.

Hearing the laughter from her children inside however was all Bella needed, for she knew where she belonged and she knew where her heart belonged as well. It belonged to the boy who had become her sun in the dark, and the stars which were her children. It belonged to the rest of the pack which had become her family. She could never leave them, she loved them too much and she knew now where she belonged.

The part of her heart which belonged to her Edward would stay with him however, for he was the only one, and would always be the only one, who could bring life to deepest part of her soul, the part which was missing him and would never belong to her.

* * *

Just a small one-shot I had in my mind. Please leave a review.

Love Lysistrate


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